Chapter 123: Hope
"What are you looking at, husband?"
Behind the courtyard, in the pavilion on the hillside, Zhao Yu stood by the railing with his hands behind his hands, his eyes far and wide.
Zhao Ji put a cloak on Zhao Yu, held Zhao Yu's hand as warm as warm jade, and followed Zhao Yu's gaze, only seeing the rising and falling of clouds and smoke.
Zhao Yu squeezed Zhao Ji's hand and said with a faint smile, "I'm looking for breath."
"Wangqi?"
Zhao Ji was slightly curious.
Zhao Yu nodded: "Heaven and earth have the Qi of heaven and earth, and people have their popularity. When people's Qi gathers, it is the Qi of humanity. The Qi of humanity and the Qi of heaven and earth influence each other. From their clues, we can see the destiny of the world. .”
Zhaoji didn't seem to understand, so she followed her husband and said, "What did your husband see?"
In Zhao Yu's eyes, the energy of heaven and earth is rolling like a tide, everywhere in the world. The energy of humanity is scattered in the heaven and earth, one here, one there, far or near, long or short, large or small, with different colors, all swaying and extinguishing in the rolling torrent of heaven and earth's energy.
"Heaven and earth are furnaces, creation is work, yin and yang are charcoal, and all things are copper. What Jia Changsha said is exactly the truth."
"Look, there is Cao Mengde nearby, his energy is dark and black, and he ranks first in the list. To the south are Yuan Gongdao and Liu Yao, one is light red, the other is light blue, entangled with each other, fighting endlessly. To the west are Liu Jingsheng and Liu Jiyu, The one near is light yellow, the one far away is light green. There is orange-yellow air in the north, and it belongs to Yuan Benchu. There is light red air, and it belongs to Gongsun Zan. The color in Guanzhong is messy, which is the manifestation of chaos. In the air of heaven and earth, all kinds of air are entangled. , you come and I go, one goes down and the other goes up. Isn’t it just what Jia Changsha said?”
"Cao Mengde stands majestically among the rivers, and the various qi of the surrounding families, although chaotic, seem to be connected."
Speaking of this, Zhao Yu smiled and said: "Cao Mengde is in trouble."
Zhaoji understood: "Husband, are you saying that various princes may unite to deal with Duke Cao?"
Zhao Yu nodded: "The lice on the bald man's head are obvious. Cao Mengde has shown his strength and has the potential to dominate the world. If the other princes do not want to lose everything, they can only unite to defeat Cao Mengde. Only they can be found in the world. share.”
"Is it another case of 'heroes challenging Dong'?"
"It can be said that," Zhao Yu said with a smile: "The most resourceful people in the world are not just a few people under Cao Mengde's command. In the age of great strife, dragons and snakes rise from the land, and there are countless people of all kinds. No matter how stupid people like Yuan Benchu are, He also knows what to do. Except for Cao Mengde, who faces the sea in the east, he is surrounded by enemies on the other three sides, which is perfect for a siege. In my opinion, once he officially uses troops against Guanzhong, the surrounding princes will definitely take advantage of the situation to attack."
"Then why didn't your husband remind him?" Zhao Ji asked curiously.
Zhao Yu laughed and shook his head: "Can't you tell Cao Mengde? What a shrewd person Cao Mengde is? In my opinion, we will win this time, so why bother saying more."
"What's more." Zhao Yu paused and said leisurely: "Cao Mengde wants to build a kingdom. How can the world be convinced without a few more battles?"
...
In the first year of Jian'an, in the seventh month of summer, a war broke out all over the world.
The princes of various families could not see Zhao Yu, so they secretly united and made an agreement to attack Cao Mengde together. Unexpectedly, Cao Mengde made the first move and sent out an army from all four directions. With Zhang Liao as the general on the east route and Xu Huang and others as assistants, he led 20,000 troops and came out of Mount Tai. He defeated the 30,000 troops of Zhu Ling under Yuan Shao and occupied the plain to the east. Yuan Shao was frightened by Qingzhou and Jizhou in the west. Yuan Shao was shocked and quickly sent General Yan Liang with 30,000 troops to resist.
But before Yuan Shao could come to his senses, Xia Houyuan's 20,000 soldiers and horses entrenched in the Luoyang area of Henan Province suddenly moved northward, making a move to cross the Yellow River north. The troops approached Yecheng, making it difficult for Yuan Shao to sleep and eat. Yuan Shao quickly transferred the 50,000 soldiers and horses of Quyi's command stationed at the junction of Hanoi and Wei counties back to Yecheng, and combined 100,000 troops to garrison along the river to guard against Xiahou Yuan.
Qu Yi's 50,000 soldiers and horses were originally used by Yuan Shao to attack Hanoi and then march into Guanzhong, but they were directly destroyed by Cao Mengde, making all his calculations go to waste.
Cao Mengde took the first step and immediately changed the situation. If Yuan Shao comes to attack, Zhu Ling from the east attacks Mount Tai, and Yan Liang, Wen Chou and others join forces and go south, aiming directly at Puyang, and attack from both sides, Cao Mengde will be forced to focus on one and lose the other. Then he ordered Qu Yi to attack Hanoi fiercely, and the general trend was achieved. However, Cao Mengde gave Yuan Shao a head-on blow, killing Zhu Ling first and destroying Yuan Shao's troops. Yuan Shao had to divide his troops to resist, and had to suppress his coveting of Hanoi.
At the same time, Cao Ren, who was guarding Nanyang, also sent troops. Cao Ren's troops, with only 20,000 troops, left Wancheng and attacked Fancheng. Liu Biao's plan was directly strangled to the south of the Han River, making Liu Biao unable to advance or retreat, as if he was stuck in his throat.
On the southern line, Xiahou Dun's troops entered the town of Lujiang with Le, and resisted Huang Zu. Xiahou Dun led 10,000 troops and moved to Guangling. He vigorously drilled his navy along the river and made a move southward to the east of the Yangtze River. Yuan Shu hurriedly dispatched generals Zhang Xun, Lei Bo and others to garrison Niuzhu. Liu Yao ordered Taishi Ci to garrison Wujun.
Cao Mengde took the lead and disrupted the connection between the princes in the four directions in just a few moves. Before the princes from all directions could respond, Cao Mengde quickly took Sun Ce as his general and led 20,000 troops to attack Hangu Pass. Hangu Pass is the barrier between Guanzhong and Guandong, and is guarded by Zhang Xiu, the general under Zhang Ji. However, in just one day, this great pass was breached by Sun Ce!
It's not because Sun Ce has the ability to fly to the sky because of his inner ear.
Guanzhong was in chaos for more than half a year, and Chang'an was unstable. The emperor of the Han Dynasty wanted to escape from the hostage of the Xiliang princes, so Luan Jia left the capital. Under the guidance of Jia Xu, he first crossed the Yellow River north to the east of the river, and the east of the river was in flames of war. Hanoi sent troops and was engaged in a fierce battle with the remnants of the Baibo bandits and the Xiongnu troops. So he quickly went south to Hongnong, seeking refuge from Zhang Ji.
However, because the emperor of Han Dynasty left Beijing, Li Jue and Guo Si finally couldn't restrain themselves. They accused each other and started fighting. Fan Chou was killed by Li Jue, and Guo Si was defeated by Li Jue and retreated to Hongnong. Zhang Ji went to persuade him, but was killed by the rebels.
Jia Xu took advantage of the chaos and took the Emperor of Han all the way east to Hangu Pass.
At this time, Sun Ce was about to send troops to Hangu. Zhang Xiu did not know that Zhang Ji was dead. If Jia Xu did not arrive, it would be easy for Zhang Xiu to rely on Xiongguan to hold off Sun Ce for a month and a half. But when Jia Xu came with the emperor and heard that Zhang Ji was dead, Zhang Xiu was in a state of confusion.
So Jia Xu took the opportunity to open and close the door and lure Sun Ce into the pass. When Zhang Xiu came to his senses, he was surrounded by people. Jia Xu spoke with a sharp tongue and said that Zhang Xiu would be surrendered and Hangu Pass would be sealed in an instant!
At the same time, on the battlefield east of Hedong, Lu Bu defeated the Baibo bandits, beheading thousands of them and surrendering more than ten thousand. He also defeated the Xiongnu, beheaded more than ten thousand people, killed Liu Bao, the virtuous king on his right, and decapitated the Xiongnu to shock him. Later, with Zhang Yang as general, he took command of Hedong, and he led 10,000 troops and went south to Guanzhong.
In this way, Lu Bu and Sun Ce, two groups of soldiers and horses, one in the east and one in the north, are jointly attacking the key points, and the general trend will be determined.
